Title

Author

Date of Award

12-1989

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Public Affairs and Administration

First Advisor

Dr. Myron Ross

Second Advisor

Dr. Michael Payne

Third Advisor

Dr. Fred Mortimore

Abstract

Horizontal equity in property tax administration has been neglected by researchers in favor of research on incidence of the property tax. The present study, conducted within nine townships in Allegan, Barry, and Grand Traverse Counties in Michigan, investigated differences of practices in assessing residential properties. Three hypotheses test differences in ratio of assessed value to sale price for properties owned by nonresidents and residents, properties with water frontage and without water frontage, and properties of higher value and those of lower value. Both parametric and nonparametric statistics were utilized to test the research hypotheses.

The study findings were: (1) Properties owned by nonresidents had a higher ratio of assessed value to sale price than did properties owned by residents. (2) Properties without water frontage had a higher ratio of assessed value to sale price than did properties with water frontage. (3) Properties of lower value had a higher ratio of assessed value to sale price than did properties of higher value.

A number of possible explanations are offered to explain observed assessment inequities, and a number of recommendations are advanced to correct inequities observed.